World Thinking Day (WTD) is celebrated every year on February 22 since 1926 by boy and girl scouts and guides around the world to honour the founder and first Chief Scout of the world Lord Robert Baden-Powell (22/2/1857).
On this day, scouts and guides reflect upon their organisations’ values, exchange wishes with their global counterparts and organise charity campaigns to help scouts and guides in underdeveloped countries, in line with Lord Baden-Powell’s advice “Be prepared” and “Leave this world a little better than you found it.”
The Scouts is the biggest youth movement in the world counting more than 40,000,000 members across 217 countries.
In Cyprus, WTD will be celebrated by the Cyprus Scouts Association with the blessings of the Ministry of Education that will allow young scouts to attend school in their scouting uniforms.
The Cypriot Commissioner for Volunteerism and NGOs Yiannis Yiannaki in an announcement marking WTD endorsed the Scouts’ values saying that “scouts and guides are ambassadors of the volunteerism movement. They actively participate in society, are responsible citizens and are always willing to help.”
“Young scouts and guides develop skills that will accompany them forever; they are taught environmental consciousness, human rights awareness, appreciation of cultural heritage, and respect for diversity,” the announcement concluded.
The African arm of the World Association of Girl Guides and Scouts (WAGGS) have shared their own message for WTD on social media:
